THE NIGHTINGALES

A coming-of-age story set in the midst of the AIDS crisis.

Lou Miller is in her senior year of high school when her father, Don, invites a co-worker with cancer to move in with their family. Lou’s mother, Annemarie, is outraged, both by the fact that Don didn’t consult her first and by the presence of an unwell stranger in their home. Lou herself finds someone she can talk to—and someone she can love and care for—in Jim. While a contemporary reader may quickly discern that Jim actually has AIDS, it takes Lou a little while to catch on. In small-town Oregon in 1985, AIDS was still new and alien. Don and Lou react to Jim’s illness with empathy, while Annemarie reflects on the fear that permeated American culture when AIDS was widely misunderstood as a “gay plague” and misinformation about its transmission was rampant. This graphic novel is stunning in every way. Wilson forgoes panels in favor of a format that is part sketchbook, part journal, and part scrapbook—a choice that gives both the visuals and the narrative room to breathe. The artwork has an intimacy and immediacy that complements the text beautifully, and the vibrant color palette communicates the joy that the relationship between Lou and Jim brings them both. Sensitive but blunt and mordantly funny, Lou is a great narrator. Jim is also a wonderfully well-crafted character. He is, by turns, charming and sentimental and ironic and angry. He talks to Lou like a grown-up, and his tales of living as a gay man in pre-AIDS New York inspire Lou to pursue her own dreams rather than the path her parents have set out for her. Scenes starring Jim’s Pomeranians, Henny and Penny, offer welcome comic relief—and serve as a space for Lou to work through some difficult experiences.

Absolutely gorgeous, visually and emotionally.